Windows 10 Documents folder keeps showing up in Windows Explorer. Possibly related to OneDrive mappings.

Rob Creely 1 Reputation point
2021-03-30T14:40:43.697+00:00

I have a Windows 10 PC with a number of internal drives. My base OS drive is C:. But, I map most of my user folders to data drives which are then OneDrive enabled to sync/backup. In this case, my Documents, Photos, Videos and Music all are OneDrive enabled (M:\OneDrive).

I have multiple PCs in the house that also do the same thing so I can share documents folders between them via OneDrive.

My issue is with this rogue Documents folder that keeps showing up in Explorer. I think it is related to a bad User Shell Folder registry setting somewhere on this PC. I can't narrow it down. Here is a screenshot of my "Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders" section of the registry:

82740-registry.jpg

Any thoughts on where this might be happening?

Windows 10
Windows 10
A Microsoft operating system that runs on personal computers and tablets.
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OneDrive Management
OneDrive Management
OneDrive: A Microsoft file hosting and synchronization service.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
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  1. Rob Creely 1 Reputation point
    2021-03-31T00:23:50.777+00:00

    For more context here is a shot showing Windows Explorer listing the extra "Documents" folder which is empty. My PC is correctly saving all local Documents to the mapped folder directly underneath it.

    83031-image.png

    If I delete that first folder, it eventually shows up again.

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  2. Erin Ding-MSFT 4,456 Reputation points
    2021-03-31T07:06:14.087+00:00

    @Rob Creely

    Is there error message when deleting the folder?
    If there is, please provide a screenshot which may help troubleshoot this issue better.

    Can you see this folder when signing into OneDrive online?
    If yes, please try to delete it from the web.

    Please right click this folder, click Properties to check the Location of it.

    If an Answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.
    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

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  3. Rob Creely 1 Reputation point
    2021-03-31T15:05:10.767+00:00

    Thank you for the suggestions.

    No error deleting it. It lets me delete it normally and it shows up after a time or after a reboot. Here is the folder in OneDrive web console. It was auto-created again yesterday and right clicking on it does not show any details on location. Just gives me options to rename, move or share it. My actual local Documents folder is "Documents-name-PC"

    83308-image.png

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  4. Rob Creely 1 Reputation point
    2021-04-08T22:27:11.387+00:00

    I am assuming no one has any suggestions....

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